Monthly Archives: October 2014

Since the publication of my documentary, The Ghosts of Jeju, I have focused almost exclusively on peace and justice issues and climate change.

This is the first in a series on Peacemakers I have met as I’ve traveled around the country screening The Ghosts of Jeju. The connection with the 7 yr peaceful, non-violent protest in Gangjeong Village should be obvious.

The people in this series have all been life-long activists.

Christine DeTroy’s story is very moving. Her journey began in Nazi Germany during the war when a farewell meeting with Frau Rosa Abraham, a Jew who was deported to a concentration camp near Prague and later died in a gas chamber, had a profound impact on her life.

Ever since her arrival in America after the war, she has been an outspoken activist and this is her story.

The Ghosts of Jeju with Korean subtitles is now available for sale online at www.theghostsofjeju.net

Thanks to my dear friend, Joyakgol, a Gangjeong peace activist, who traveled with me from The Chicago Peace on Earth Film Festival to the West Coast for screening in 13 cities, the Korean version of The Ghosts of Jeju has been completed.

Joyakgol edited and finalized the translation upon his return to Korea where he has been presenting the film. Joyakgol will also present the film this month at the following film festivals: Cheju Fringe Festival, the Environmental Film Festival in Incheon, The Catholic Film Festival, The Gwangju Human Rights Film Festival, and the Jeju Peace Festival.

He will be accompanied by Professor Yang Yoon-Mo, the former Korean film critic for 30 years, who left his career to defend his home. He has been imprisoned four times for protesting the construction of the navel base and went on hunger strikes each time. Here is a short clip from The Ghosts of Jeju:

I am happy to say that the Japanese version is nearing completion with only the subtitles to be added. The film is currently being translated into French with the subtitles due to be completed later this year. All of this work is being done gratis by people who have been moved by the film.

It is simply amazing that this almost no budget film has not only been screened hundreds of times here in America, but found its way to at least 16 countries that I know of, including Russia and Taiwan.

I am humbled and gratified by the appeal of The Ghosts of Jeju. As my good friend, Charles Hanley, the Associated Press Pulitzer Prize winning author of the Bridge at No Gun Ri told me, “you have no idea of the magnitude of the story you fell into.”

On going to Jeju in September of 2012, I thought I was going to make a short film about another anti-war, anti-U.S. militarism protest in a far-off land. And, like me when I discovered the untold and hidden story of the U.S. in Korea since 1945, Americans who see the film express the same disbelief, anger, and shame that I felt. The many Korean people in America who have seen it all thank me for telling this story which had been hidden from them as well.

You can help me continue to spread the film in the U.S. and around the world by purchasing a copy of the film in English or Korean and sharing it widely. There are no royalties, fees, or permissions needed. To date, I have not been compensated. Proceeds from the sale of the film have allowed me to make two cross country trips and countless regional trips to present it to both large and small groups.

Later this month I will be presenting it to the Peace & Justice Studies Association annual conference in San Diego, and the following week it will be screened by the Korean Studies Department at UCLA in a return visit.

The film is being sold in Korea with all of the proceeds going to the activists in Gangjeong Village, and all of the proceeds from copies purchased in Korea on line at www.theghostsofjeju.net will also go to Gangjeong.

Watch The Trailer

Testimonials

"It was a smashing hit....people were crying and they were clapping at the end.....I handed out the DVD's strategically to key leaders in various Swedish cities, and from Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Japan and Mexico.....people passed the hat to send money to the village but I insisted they keep the money towards sending a representative from Sweden to the village ASAP......they loved the music, the story, and the resistance.....many people sent congrats to you....it's was a European opening night showing......5 stars. Add Russia to list of places I sent DVD home with....a man who works directly for Putin."